Why this ride
A 260 km round trip from Agra - roughly 3 h 54 in the saddle. It goes by way of Fatehpur Sikri, Keoladeo National Park, back through Fatehpur Sikri and back through Keoladeo National Park.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Agra Fort and Keoladeo National Park
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 260 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 54
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Agra Fort
Red sandstone walls rise out of the Yamuna floodplain at Agra, and for a moment they seem to have been put there to distract you from the Taj Mahal. Agra Fort is a very different thing from its famous neighbour, two and a half kilometres downstream. It is a palace-city, a military stronghold and a seat of government, begun by the emperor Akbar in 1565 and completed over several generations, with high double walls, a moat and gates that climb in zigzags to slow down attackers. UNESCO listed it in 1983.
Read the complete Agra Fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Agra Fort is where the day begins. Next is Fatehpur Sikri.
2. Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri rises on a sandstone ridge west of Agra, a red city of palaces, courtyards and mosques built by the Mughal emperor Akbar in the 1570s and abandoned just a few years later. Akbar built it to honour the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, who had predicted the birth of his son and heir, and for over a decade it was the capital of his empire. Then, for reasons that are still debated, perhaps a lack of water or political changes, the court moved away, and the city was left almost intact, a time capsule of Mughal architecture and a World Heritage site.
Read the complete Fatehpur Sikri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fatehpur Sikri comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Keoladeo National Park.
3. Keoladeo National Park
For decades the Maharajas of Bharatpur kept this marshland as a duck-shooting estate, and the scale of the sport is hard to believe. On a single day in 1938 the viceroy Lord Linlithgow and his party shot more than four thousand birds, a record that still shocks people today. The shoots ended after independence, and in 1971 the area became a protected sanctuary. It is now Keoladeo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985 and one of the finest bird sanctuaries in Asia.
Read the complete Keoladeo National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Keoladeo National Park.
4. Fatehpur Sikri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fatehpur Sikri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fatehpur Sikri, about halfway.
5. Keoladeo National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Keoladeo National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Keoladeo National Park sits at 118 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fatehpur Sikri.
6. back through Fatehpur Sikri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fatehpur Sikri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fatehpur Sikri comes up about 159 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Keoladeo National Park.
7. back through Keoladeo National Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Keoladeo National Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 188 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Keoladeo National Park.
8. back through Fatehpur Sikri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fatehpur Sikri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fatehpur Sikri, late in the day. Next is Agra Fort.
9. Agra Fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Agra Fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 260 km.
Leg by leg
Agra Fort to Fatehpur Sikri
Agra Fort → Fatehpur Sikri is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fatehpur Sikri to Keoladeo National Park
Fatehpur Sikri → Keoladeo National Park is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Keoladeo National Park to Fatehpur Sikri
Keoladeo National Park → Fatehpur Sikri is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Keoladeo National Park to back through Fatehpur Sikri
Keoladeo National Park → back through Fatehpur Sikri is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fatehpur Sikri to back through Keoladeo National Park
back through Fatehpur Sikri → back through Keoladeo National Park is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Keoladeo National Park to back through Fatehpur Sikri
back through Keoladeo National Park → back through Fatehpur Sikri is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fatehpur Sikri to Agra Fort
back through Fatehpur Sikri → Agra Fort is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.